Question

I’m not sure if this is doable, but I will just give a shot.

I am calling Assert.AreEqual() method.
For the parameters, I’m passing…

1. an enum value which has Int32 as the underlying type because I didn’t specify the base type
2. an int (Int32) value

Assert fails because it sees that the enum is not int (which is definitely correct).
However, is there a way to make this Assert pass when the enum has the correct int value as the 2nd parameter?

I can cast the enum to int and have it a quick fix, but it’s really ugly.
I was expecting some kind of overriding a method that Assert uses to compare 2 different objects and implicitly make that enum type look like an int. However, I wasn’t successful at finding any hint/answer around that so far.

Someone suggested to create a type converter and use the TypeConverterAttribute to get around. If this works for sure and is the only way to do it, I would; however, it does seem a lot of unnecessary work.

Answer 1

By calling Assert.AreEqual(enum, int), you are calling the Assert.AreEqual(object, object) method, as there is no overload that has an enum and an int as parameters.

I do not think that casting the enum to an int is ugly – in fact I think it is perfectly acceptable and a very common technique. If you were doing a normal equality comparison (ie. 1 == MyEnum.Value), you would get a compiler error as there is no implicit conversion, only an explicit one which requires a cast to work.

A type converter may work, but you need to ask yourself if doing that will actually give you any real benefit for the amount of effort involved. Personally, I would just leave the cast to an int.

If you are asserting something like the return value of a method call, why not just assert based on what value you expect?

MyEnum actual = SomeMethod();
Assert.AreEqual(MyEnum.Value, actual);

This does not require the cast as the two types are the same, and you are asserting the expected value.